Animal House Essay Questions

What do Boon and Katy get in fights about?

Katy is a good sport for much of the movie, but she really wants Boon to grow up and start prioritizing her over his crazy fraternity lifestyle. He always wants to spend time with his friends from Delta, and this takes away from his ability to be an attentive boyfriend to her. She wants him to grow up and become more mature, and her desire for maturity eventually leads her to have an affair with Professor Jennings.

How do the Delta brothers get back at the college after getting expelled?

In the wake of their expulsion, the brothers are briefly disheartened, but Bluto and Otter urge them to get the last laugh. Otter says that they ought to do a "futile and stupid gesture" and so they take over the homecoming parade and wreak havoc. They do not do anything violent or hurt anybody, but they create a bunch of chaos. By disrupting the event with their "stupid" antics, they gain the upper hand and show that their ability to have fun is more important than the stodgy rule-abiding ways of Dean Wormer and the Omega fraternity.

What elements of the film might offend a modern audience?

The film takes a satirical and irreverent viewpoint on all of its subject matter, some of which is a bit controversial. Two moments that stand out as potentially polarizing are the moment when Pinto is deciding whether or not to rape the underage girl at the party, with the angel and devil on his shoulder fighting for his attention, and the moment when the white college students go to an all-black bar. Pinto's conflict of faith is a violent one—the question of whether or not to rape—made comedic, and in today's climate of calling out rape culture and sexual entitlement, the scene would likely not do very well with audiences. The scene at the bar where Otis is playing veers towards racism at times, staging a racial animosity that is at times satirical and humorous, and at sometimes centers white fear at the exclusion of a black experience.

Why do you think John Belushi's performance is considered to be so iconic?

Belushi was already a beloved comic actor at the time that Animal House came out, and his appeal is on full display in this movie. He manages to make the often disgusting and outrageous character of Bluto lovable by giving him a kind of childlike wonder. He is a grown baby, barely verbal, with an insatiable appetite and a tendency to say the wrong thing. Because he embodies such a primitive part of the human psyche, the viewer identifies with and delights in his antics, and Belushi's willingness to push the joke to the edge makes him an exceedingly charming performer.

What is the difference between Delta and Omega?

While the Omega house is preppy, rule-abiding, and clean-cut, Delta is wild, outrageous, playful and indulgent. Where Omega respects the rules with an almost military wholesomeness and fascist smugness, Delta brothers delight in nothing more than breaking the rules and having a good time. The fraternities could not be more different, and their differences lead to comic discrepancies.